The Tree Falls

The Demon Willow that penetrated heaven and earth eventually fell down.

Elder Ning of the Lingnan Immortal Sect displayed his avatar magic, splitting into a giant thousands of kilometers high. He smashed through the tens of thousands of chains of order on the Devouring Demon Willow, moving close to the trunk of the Devouring Demon Willow. Then he cast a spell, changing it into a sword almost a thousand kilometers long, severing the Devouring Demon Willow in half with one strike!

The upper half of the Devouring Demon Willow's trunk fell down, toppling towards Qin Ran's side. As that half of the trunk moved through the air, its branches scraped across space, making a whining, sobbing sound...it sounded as if the Devouring Demon Willow was crying.

Its trunk burst through the fog with a rumble as it smashed into the ground, quaking the earth tremendously. The fog rose up, leaving behind a long gully.

The crown of the Devouring Demon Willow fell right before his eyes from above, passing very near. The massive gusts stirred up by its impact almost knocked Qin Ran off his feet.

He looked at the Devouring Demon Willow's trunk, shrouded by the swirling fog. He felt as if he were covering a grave with soil. For some reason, he suddenly felt a bit desolate.

This tree had swallowed the entire Hengduan Mountains and created endless slaughter, all to merge with the Dao. To call it a demon was giving demons too little credit... Yet Qin Ran felt sorrow at its fate.

If one's perspective was raised high enough, to the level of nature, to the level of the Heavenly Dao, one would see that the Devouring Demon Willow swallowing lives was just the normal way of this world.

Just as wolves eat sheep, tigers eat cattle, and eagles snatch rabbits - the wolves, tigers and eagles have done no wrong.

That was why the heavenly tribulation against the Devouring Demon Willow was justified. To the perspective of the Heavenly Dao, the actions of the Devouring Demon Willow were reasonable... yet from a mortal perspective, its sins towered to the heavens.

Yet no matter how much evil it had committed, no matter how powerful it had become, powerful enough to merge with the Dao, it was still just a piece on the chessboard of the Lingnan Immortal Sect's plan to nurture fruits of the Dao.

No matter how it struggled, it could never escape the palm of the Lingnan Immortal Sect.

To the Lingnan Immortal Sect, it was no different than a banana tree to a farming family. When it was time to pluck the fruits, the tree would simply be chopped down.

"Sigh!" Qin Ran let out a breath, then carefully descended into the fog, saying to Li Shiyin and the others, "Stay here, don't move. I'll go take a look and be right back."

Entering the fog, he found the trunk of the Devouring Demon Willow. Qin Ran stood before it, seeming like an ant. He took out his sword and cut off a willow branch, storing it in his Cosmic Bag as a memento.

This was another terrifying thing about the world of cultivation - no matter how high one's cultivation reached, one still had to be vigilant against being used as a chess piece by cultivators of even higher levels.

Just after Qin Ran had stored away the willow branch, before he could do anything else, people came rushing at him out of the depths of the fog.

Four people emerged, some men and some women. Three of them had swords on their backs. They stood atop the crown of the Devouring Demon Willow, looking down at Qin Ran below.

The one without a sword was a youth in black robes. He shouted at Qin Ran, "Who are you?"

"Qin Ran of the Dao Sword Sect..."

Although this youth appeared young, his cultivation aura was far above Qin Ran's. He must be at the Primordial Infant stage. Based on Primordial Infant cultivation, that would make him a demonic beast hundreds or thousands of years old.

When facing someone like this, Qin Ran adopted a very humble attitude, politely responding, "This junior just happened to be outside the fog. I was curious when I saw the Devouring Demon Willow fallen here, so I came to take a look."

"Dao Sword Sect?" The black-robed youth coldly laughed, then shouted, "As if the Devouring Demon Willow is something you juniors can look upon! You lack self-awareness! Tell me, did you pick up a fruit of the Dao?!"

This person's imposing manner came from nowhere, causing Qin Ran to frown. He suddenly noticed that the other three people, one woman and two men, all had longswords on their backs. His heart sank.

"Boundless Sword Sect!"

Since he didn't often venture outside, only now did he realize the identities of these four people.

Only those from the Boundless Sword Sect would provoke Dao Sword Sect members for no reason.

Both sects were in the Hengduan Mountains, and had similar natures, so conflicts between them were common.

"How could I have picked up something like a fruit of the Dao?" Qin Ran immediately started plotting an escape route. Four Primordial Infant cultivators before him - he really couldn't beat them.

"You say you didn't pick it up, so you didn't?" The black-robed youth scolded. "Come over here and let this old man search you! Only after searching your body can we prove your innocence."

Seeing this person's unreasonable demands, Qin Ran knew there was no room for discussion today. He suddenly laughed and said, "I said I didn't pick it up, so I didn't."

Qin Ran's attitude suddenly changed, no longer humble, infuriating the black-robed youth. He cursed, "An insignificant Golden Core cultivator dares to be arrogant before me?"

He raised his hand and summoned a short flying sword from within his body. The sword flew at Qin Ran as fast as lightning.

But it wasn't faster than Su Changqing's sword qi. Qin Ran precisely grasped the right moment, his body flickering in and out of view, and the flying sword passed right through him without harming a hair.

"This is the level of a Boundless Sword Sect Primordial Infant?" He seized the time to mock them, continuing, "Let alone saying I didn't pick up a fruit of the Dao, even if I did pick one up, it would belong to the Lingnan Immortal Sect. Even if the Lingnan Immortal Sect didn't want it, it would still be mine. What business is it of you old undeads?"

His barrage of insults angered the rest. The middle-aged woman cultivator with the appearance of a girl in a pink robe drew her sword from her back and said to Qin Ran, "Dao Sword Sect disciples have more bark than bite."

"This junior just thought of a question - aren't seniors trying to secretly swallow the Lingnan Immortal Sect's fruit of the Dao?" Qin Ran laughed and said, "It just so happens I'm acquainted with some Lingnan Immortal Sect members I can tell in detail."

The expressions of the four Boundless Sword Sect cultivators immediately darkened, their eyes flickering unpredictably.

Finally, considering the half-dead Elder Ning, the four exchanged a glance and reached a conclusion.

The black-robed youth laughed and took a step forward. His flying sword spun around his fingertip as it returned to him, revolving smoothly. He said to Qin Ran,

"You really are a fool. I only wanted to tease you a bit, with no intention to take your life. I didn't expect an unappreciative junior like you to insist on leaving your worthless life here!"

Qin Ran wasn't flustered at all, or angry. He smiled politely and asked the four, "Killing me - do you deserve that?"

"Arrogance!" The woman in pink robes pointed her sword forward, and a misty sword-qi stabbed toward Qin Ran.

This leisurely sword went floating over, scaring that Dao Sword Sect disciple stiff. He didn't dare move and was directly stabbed...

"Just that?" The woman in pink robes disdained.

Then that dumb Dao Sword Sect disciple's body flickered, turning into a puddle of water that fell to the ground.

"Didn't I say you don't deserve it!"

Qin Ran's voice suddenly echoed from the distant fog. The four Boundless Sword Sect cultivators were shocked. When had he swapped out for a clone? They looked closely but still couldn't see Qin Ran.

They had been tricked!

Realizing this, the black-robed man's hair stood on end. He tossed the flying sword high into the air, rippling as it transformed into a sword over ten meters long. He immediately flew toward where Qin Ran's voice had come from...

"You can't be that stupid, can you? To think the origin of the sound is the true body's location?" Qin Ran's mocking voice echoed again from a different direction. He kindly reminded them, "Compared to me, you should pay more attention to what's behind you! There's a surprise... "

As Primordial Infant stage cultivators, to be toyed with several times by a junior Golden Core cultivator - the black-robed man was so angry his lungs nearly exploded. Disregarding everything, his flying sword directly cleaved toward where Qin Ran's voice had originated.

Before his sword could even transmit back any news, the woman cultivator in pink beside him suddenly cried out, "Senior Brother Zhang..."

The black-robed man looked back at the woman in pink, then followed her gaze behind them...

There, in the distant thick fog, all sorts of high level demonic beasts were coming toward them along the trunk of the Devouring Demon Willow.

None of them were below 5th rank. A five-tailed demon fox, a gold-striped clouded leopard, a silver-backed demon ape, a seven-colored world-devouring python...

The five-tailed demon fox asked them, "Where did you hide the fruit of the Dao?"